


My Ultimatum (Is Always Gonna Be You)

by crazyinfj



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [19]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Din really hates the darksaber, Gen, Grogu | Baby Yoda Needs a Hug, I Don't Even Know, Post Season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 14:56:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,268
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29528139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazyinfj/pseuds/crazyinfj
Summary: “Touch a hair on his head and you will never find the saber.” Din shouts from his position, far away enough that she won’t be able to get to him fast enough, holding a gun to his head. He’s never seen the front of a barrel with his own eyes, and he can’t tell if the blurriness is because of his lack of blood or the shaking of his hands. His entire life is decided upon by a single bullet.It’s not even his life. It’s Grogu’s life that is dependent on this bullet. And that would always be the most important reason.Aka: Din Djarin is captured by a mysterious woman who wants the darksaber. She’s willing to use Grogu against him, but he will not let that happen.Febuwhump Day #21 Prompt: Torture
Relationships: Din Djarin & Grogu | Baby Yoda, Grogu | Baby Yoda & Luke Skywalker
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2135274
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	My Ultimatum (Is Always Gonna Be You)

“Kill me and it will not stop the rise and fall of the sun.”

The woman in front of him curls her lips in a smile. Din must look like a sight, trapped in energy bonds, his helmet off, blood dripping from his forehead. A Mandalorian, stripped of his armour, faced with nothing more than his own humanity. 

“Really? Nothing’s gonna break you?” 

“My life state doesn’t change anything.” 

“A man in possession of the darksaber, and his life doesn’t mean anything?” 

The darksaber. Of course. Din’s curse of existence. Should’ve just chucked it in a pit of lava. It’s brought on so many more problems and seems to be useless in the grand scheme of things. 

Good thing he hid it where no one would ever find it. 

Maybe if his head was hit hard enough, he’d forget where it was too. 

“A man always has a weakness. Something, someone, that will break them.” 

_Not anymore_

Din’s thankful Grogu is with the Jedi. He’s planets away from the danger, and Din can only imagine what he’s learning. Maybe if he sees him again, and it’s a heavy _if_ because Din only said those things to comfort Grogu, his womp rat will be as skilled as Luke Skywalker with the lightsaber. 

But most importantly, Grogu’s safe from the life of Din Djarin. A life on the move, the danger of being associated with a bounty hunter, that wasn’t a life for a child. In a galaxy that seems to continually against him, even more so now, Din knows that a clan of two is dangerous. 

This just proves what he knows. 

— 

“We need him alive.” 

Din opens his eyes and is not faced by the woman again; instead he’s in the room, empty and silent, except for the hum of energy bonds. Now looking at them with his own eyes, not the filters of his mask, Din realizes they look a lot like the force surrounding Grogu. That’s comforting, right? 

_Don’t think of him._

_That’s how you protect him._

When the woman comes in, Din wonders if he’ll break. Killed by another Mandalorian. If he does, it won’t matter. He’s survived a million things, but he’s shown his face, he’s broken his life’s code. He’s lost his clan member. 

_Din’s only really ever lived when he’s with Grogu. It only makes sense he’s going to die after he’s gone._

— 

Luke Skywalker dreams of pain, of assault by laser sticks. 

The moment he’s escaped the dream, he’s running to his padawan next door. Grogu has had dreams nearly every night, and Luke watches his padawan, making sure he’s safe. He cannot save him from this, cannot wake him. But he can be there when the kid wakes up. Then he’ll send comfort though the force. Grogu will still be sad, still be haunted. But Grogu’s not alone. 

Luke knows too well what it’s like to be alone. 

His padawan, to his surprise, is up by the time he’s crossed the hallway. Only, his padawan is running to the ship. Or more correctly, speed waddling. 

“Grogu!” 

It takes only a few seconds for Luke to catch up to Grogu, who he formerly thought was sleepwalking, but the moment he touches him, Grogu cries out. 

Luke recoils. The kid’s visions dance in front of his eyes. 

Din Djarin, the Mandalorian, in bondage. Tortured, broken. The verge of death. 

And Luke knows where Grogu is headed. But Luke cannot allow him to go. It’s too dangerous, Grogu is not trained. He will die in the same hands of those who hold Din. 

And Luke knows little of the bounty hunter, only what blurry memories he can feel from Grogu, but from the moment Luke had witnessed in person, Din has done everything in his power to protect the kid. To allow Grogu to go would be to defy everything Din’s ever done for him. 

So Luke pushes through the visions and grabs Grogu who fights, kicks with his little painful feet, claws scratching his face, and fights his small padawan force for force. 

Finally, Luke feels Grogu drop his weight in his arms. It’s a ploy, to get Luke to drop him. Instead, Luke carries him back to the kitchen, warming up milk for the kid. The night’s not going to be kind to him. But Luke will be. 

— 

“I’ve heard about you and a...kid.” 

Din’s blood turns to lead and it’s only the energy bonds that hold up his arms. Not Grogu. Everything in the universe, but force, not Grogu. 

“I’ve heard that you said something about this ugly kiddo, but of course you can’t control looks.” 

Din, despite his fear, felt offended on his kid’s behalf. Grogu was not ugly. He was perfect, with his fuzzy ears, the left which had a small little wart on the base do the ear, to his little hands that somehow caught frogs. It was the force Din knew that caught all those quick creatures. Grogu was not that dexterous. Din knows every part of Grogu, his small feet, stubby but nimble, his puckered lips, almost always cooing. And the eyes that Din’s life rose and fell for. 

And Din knows, this person, a Mandalorian only by armor, not of nature, force only knows who, will find Grogu and use the kid against him. 

Din won’t let it happen. He’ll die first. Kill himself. 

“Excuse me if I’m paraphrasing here, but something along the lines of ‘He means more to me than you’ll ever know?’” 

The words sound wrong on her lips. Too confident, too easy. As if she’s already got a hold on Grogu, and in turn, him. 

\-- 

They come for the kid. 

A woman, in red Mandalorian armor, enters too confidently. Her men have been ready for this, because they already realize that Luke, the Jedi, is not their target. 

Luke fights violently. He’s not one for violence, to fight anger with anger. 

It’s different though, he finds, when you’re fighting for someone who cannot protect themselves. A child. And sure, the kid has the force, but he’s no better than Luke when he first discovered it. 

So Luke fights with more energy borrowed from the force than ever before. He’s slashing through the pawns as if they’re no more than twigs. 

And it’s for nothing. Because they were all a deception, and Grogu’s gone. 

They’ve destroyed his ship. Luke Skywalker can’t protect his padawan. 

Is this the fate of the force? 

\-- 

“Din Djarin! I’d like to be the witness of a wonderful reunion!” 

The kid. 

They had Grogu. 

Wriggling from the woman’s grasp, Gorgu is too ignorant of what’s going on to pretend to not know Din. Excitedly, he toddled up to the feet of Din, and it takes everything in Din to force a smile onto his face. 

He will not let Grogu take the blame for this. Not when he’s a child, innocent of war. 

“I’m sorry.” Din whispers, and watches his son tip his head in misunderstanding. The eyes go wider as Grogu acknowledges what it means. 

“Take him away.” Din’s voice is hard, the one he uses in his helmet, the voice he thought he had lost during his time tortured. _How long has it been?_

“Oh, but we just met each other.” 

“Take him away.” 

He can’t watch me suffer. You’re going to hurt him more. His nightmares already plague his nights, don't let my memory plague his days. 

“Tell me where the saber is and then we’ll talk.” 

“Don’t do this.” 

Din shoots one last glance at Grogu, and jerks his head forward, to face his oppressor, new determination in his eyes. 

\-- 

The moment Gorgu deactivates the bonds, there’s general chaos, and before he can fight for a gun, Din finds himself shot in the side. For the first time in his memory, the beskar isn’t there to protect him. 

Pain is enveloping, he can feel the warm blood dripping from his side, and wonders how much it's worth, to keep fighting. 

Grogu is here. 

It will always be worth fighting as long as he’s here. 

Despite common belief, Din is excellent at one on one combat. He doesn’t use it too much, much more in favor of doing his job from a distance, but it comes back to him like muscle memory. It’s weird, doing it without his armor, but he finds it slightly easier to move. 

It would be fine if every pull of his shoulder didn’t aggravate his wound, and he didn’t feel lightheaded because of losing more blood. How much has he even got in his body? 

\-- 

Grabbing the gun from the fallen soldier, Din props it up to shoot. 

If only he could see the figures clearly enough to shoot. 

Before he blink, there’s a barrel of a blaster against his head. Pulling his hands from the gun, he raises them in surrender. 

He doesn’t hear any noise that sounds like Grogu. 

“No tricks or both of you die.” 

In that moment, Din wishes he was blind. Wishes he wasn’t awake enough to see the gun pointed at the back of Grogu, who’s being threatened with the life of Din. 

“It’s not here.” 

“Where is it?” 

Din stays silent, praying to a force he can’t feel, that they spare Grogu’s life. 

“I’ll take you.” 

“We don’t work like that.” The barrel is shoved further into his hair. “You tell us, and then you die.” 

“Let the child go.” 

“Let the upper hand go? You don’t know how war works buddy.” 

“You don’t know how I work.” 

“Yes I do. ‘Wherever he goes, you go.’” 

How did this woman know everything about him? Who was she? 

“As long as he is in this room, you will never know.” 

“Take him out. Leave him by the door.” 

Din pretends not to hear the child’s indignant, scared chirps. Instead, he shuts his eyes until they threaten to spill out fat, wobbly tears he hasn’t let slip since he was a kid. He will not show her weakness, he will not let her use Grogu against him. 

“Where is it?” 

“Who are you?” Instead he demands. 

“A Mandalorian just like you. Someone who will do far more with the darksaber than you ever will.” 

“You are no Mandalorian.” 

“And soon, you will be no clan of two.” 

The trick is on her, he’s been alone for weeks now. A clan of two that was never supposed to be, severed by their own choices. And that wasn’t even the saddest part. 

The saddest part is that Din let himself fall this far. To the point of capture. Possibly to no return. 

Suddenly there’s a bang and the woman’s hand automatically reaches for her blasters. Running out the door, he hears the telltale sounds of shooting. 

As the sounds get closer, Din can see the robe of the Jedi, every part of the man hidden except his hand, spinning his saber around with practiced ease. 

He can let go. Grogu is safe. 

“One more step and he dies.” 

Din stops breathing. He was a fool to think that she wouldn’t use Grogu against the Jedi too. Grogu is _not_ safe, and his life is in the hands of a Jedi. Grogu’s life is in the hands of someone who might not make the same choice as him. 

“Touch a hair on his head and you will never find the saber.” Din shouts from his position, far away enough that she won’t be able to get to him fast enough, holding a gun to his head. He’s never seen the front of a barrel with his own eyes, and he can’t tell if the blurriness is because of his lack of blood or the shaking of his hands. His entire life is decided upon by a single bullet. 

It’s not even his life. It’s Grogu’s life that is dependent on this bullet. And that would always be the most important reason. 

Running up to him, the woman reaches for the gun, but Din is never going to let her have the upper hand. Never going to give her a reason to torture Grogu. A distraction will give the Jedi time to escape. 

She’s five steps too late when he pulls the trigger. 

\-- 

He wonders if he should close his eyes, that’s how most people die, and if Grogu sees him after this, he doesn’t want empty, dead, brown eyes to haunt the child. 

Before he can close his eyes for the final time, the glow of the Jedi’s saber swings in front of his head, close enough that Din can hear the hum, and can feel the steady vibrations of the weapon. When the bullet meets the sword, it neutralizes the energy, and Din, if he had more life in him, would want to examine it closely. All he can do right now is slump. Did the Jedi have a plan? To keep Grogu safe? 

“Leia, send in the troops. I need a medic on standby.” 

Quickly it’s a commotion, as Din’s captoress is dragged away by troops Din’s never seen and soon, he sees a green blurry figure in front of him. 

“Careful Grogu, he’s hurt.” 

The pain will subside. Just let me see him, let me make sure his ears are warm and that no harm has come to him. Let me see every part of him that I have memorized, and let me rest in the comfort of my clan member as long as I can. 

“Kid.” He whispers, and Grogu is watching him with those big eyes, and Din can finally rest.

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know much about Rook Kast so I never really form her character..she’s just evil and wants the saber. I figure she knows about it because at one point she is captured by Bo Krytze.
> 
> And Din...well, there’s only one way he can truly be tortured. 
> 
> [Crazyinfj’s Tumblr! (aka the writer who is not quite sure what she has written, and kinda hates it tbh)](http://crazyinfj.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [Eylle9’s Tumblr! (aka the beta who is the only reason this makes a lick of sense)](https://tumblr.com/blog/eylle9)


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